This proposal requests continuing support for Vanderbilt University's General Clinical Research Center (GCRC).* The major goal of this unit is to foster research that will lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of human disease. The Vanderbilt GCRC supports interdisciplinary patient- oriented research of high quality in both children and adults. It is the only GCRC within a 200 mile radius of Nashville and hosts investigations from both the Vanderbilt and Meharry Medical Schools, as well as the Vanderbilt Nursing School, Engineering School, and the College of Arts and Sciences. It is the only facility in either of the two medical schools with inpatient beds to clinical investigation. The Vanderbilt GCRC provides local leadership in teaching medical students and house staff and is the major site and motive force behind the training of patient-oriented investigators. The Vanderbilt GCRC is experiencing a steady growth in number of projects and number of investigators. The GCRC Advisory Committee, meeting every two weeks, averages approving four new projects each month, and over the last two years, more than 125 projects have been active at any given time. The Neuroscience and Metabolic Core Laboratories support ongoing investigations through the provision of novel, and in some cases unique, facilities and functions. Institutional space devoted to medical research has almost doubled at our institution in the past eight years. Our GCRC is essential for the conduct of many of our federally-funded research programs. Its continued presence is crucial to the success of the biomedical research programs at Vanderbilt.